Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.

Our task is not to seek for love but to find all the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it.

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

The master's introduction is direct recognition of one's own nature. Meditation is maintaining the continuity of this recognition.

Meditation is not just about sitting quietly, it's about transforming the mind.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.